Pyre
by Nuttynube
Summary: Merlin is stood upon the Pyre, awaiting his doom and wishing he knew why it had come to this, why the crowd and Uther didn't understand... and wondering if they ever would.


Pyre

Standing on the pyre and staring out at the crowd… I'd never felt so very alone. Arthur's tortured face was watching from above and the hateful ones from below. They hated me… they despised me with everything in them, I could see it upon their faces and hear it as they called for my death, for my blood to fall and my tears to attempt to extinguish the flames that would soon kill me.

Uther stood, no mercy and no kindness… he was unmoved by the plight of Gaius, of Arthur and of Gwen. They had tried to save me… after I tried so hard to save them all. All of those times I had saved Camelot, I had been destined to unite Albion and I had saved all of their lives more times then they would ever no and here they were, braying for blood… and Uther would undo all of my hardwork by dropping his hand.

How could the Great Dragon have ever said that I would return magic to this land? To _this? _They hated magic to their very cores… I was their friend, I had been kind to so many and I thought that they cared for me, I thought I was accepted. And then the truth came out… and they turned their backs on me, forever it would seem. How could people with such hatred of magic ever truly accept it? Why couldn't they see the good which can be done, why are they all so blind?

I cannot understand it… magic is night and day, the sorcerer chooses how to manipulate it and to what ends it will be used. And I had used it to save their lives… I had used it to make candles' flames soar free, horses race in steam and orbs of pure magic light even the darkest of caves, I had saved lives and protected my friends… did they not see the beauty? Uther sees only the bad… he sees only what magic took from him, his wife. He cannot see what magic _gave _him, it gave him his son. Surely he must see that… but no, he does not – of course he doesn't, I wouldn't be stood here if he did.

Arthur turned away as Uther stepped closer from the balcony,

"You have been found guilty of using sorcery and attempting to take the life of our Heir Apparent. You planted yourself in the Royal Household like the snake you are, sorcerer, to try and plot against myself and our future King – no doubt you have enchanted him many times and he is lucky to still be alive – what do you have to say for yourself sorcerer?" I tried to stop the trembling of my limbs as I looked up at my King – not Uther, he will never be my King… I looked to Arthur. But he would not look back, he simply walked away… hand in his hands, at least I know he cares.

I turned back to Uther and spoke, trying to stop my voice from shaking,

"You are blind, Uther Pendragon. You do not see magic as it is… you do not see the blessings that it has granted you, like your son. If you truly understood magic then you would realise that you have no-one to blame for Ygraine's death except yourself but you blame others for your mistakes and now you have doomed Camelot-"

"Is that a threat, sorcerer?" I kept my gaze locked on his, my tone level,

"No, my lord, merely the truth. The Druids have spoke for many years of my coming, of the age of Emrys and the Once-and-Future-King but you have let hatred blind you and Albion and Camelot will suffer because of it…"

"You will not harm not harm my people, you will be dead soon and any enchantments you place will fall with you-"

"And it would leave Camelot even more vulnerable to attack! Do not mess with the magic which you do not understand Uther Pendragon, I cannot die yet… or all of Albion will die with me."

Uther had had enough and his hand dropped, signalling the flames to leap high. I stood impassive, staring up through the flames with all of the calmness I could muster,

"I will not let that happen, for Arthur's sake."  
>"Silence Sorcerer, you will burn."<br>"I will not allow you to destroy the hopes and dreams of Camelot, I will not allow it to burn with me…_**O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd'hup'anankes!"**_

Kilgarrah dropped from the skies, having waited in anticipation for my call, and drove them away with ease, tearing the bindings and lifting me onto the back of his neck,

"I did not want to do this, Uther, but you left me no choice. You have no mercy and no understanding of magic and I feel sorry for you, you do not understand the wonders of something so beautiful. But Arthur can, and one day I will stand at his side and that beauty will return to Camelot… I know you can hear me Arthur."

His head appeared around the door, a look of surprise on his face, "I promise never to harm you with magic. One day, you and I will return magic to the land and unite Albion… because I am the Emrys spoken of by the druids and the last Dragonlord. I will return my friend, I only hope you can forgive my secrecy and my magic – I hope you understand." He nodded, looking shocked,

"I do…" I nodded and smiled,

"Goodbye Arthur, I hope we meet again soon."

And with that, Kilgarrah leapt into the sky, and we soared away from Camelot and away from my destiny… but only for now, we'd be back soon and I'd be prepared – perhaps if I didn't have to scrub so many floors I'd have some time to practice. And Arthur… well hopefully he'd understand, we have a destiny to fulfill together one day.


End file.
